Only 2 full days after being knocked out of the Champions League in added time, Manchester City travelled to London to try and defend their title in the FA Cup against Chelsea who have been rested since last weekend.
Despite the 120 minutes in the midweek, Guardiola only made 4 changes to the side with one of them being the goalkeeper, with Pep’s reasoning being that they did it years ago against Liverpool (made changes after midweek game) and they got destroyed 3-0 so he learnt not to do that and stuck with the team that he knew would win.
You could tell from the get-go that the Manchester City players that played over 90 minutes in the midweek were very fatigued and were not playing to the standard that was expected from their side especially Rodri, who made several sloppy plays which is unusual for the superstar midfielder. Kyle Walker is another player who only just coming back from injury has played 210 minutes of football in one week. It can be shown that the fact Champions League and FA Cup being played in one week is a major flaw of the formatting.
With Bernardo Silva to be one of the players to miss a penalty in the shootout in midweek, he made redemption for himself by scoring what proved to be the only goal of the game against Chelsea to send them into the FA Cup Final where they will look to defend their title once again.
This win also makes City’s first win against Chelsea this season with the London side being able to keep the Champions to a draw both at Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium.
Bernardo Silva celebrated clutching the City badge on his shirt showing his loyalty and love towards the club that has brought him so much success and the club he has given his heart to since signing in 2017.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite being by far the superior team in creating clear chances and counter-attacking off of City’s mistakes, Chelsea just were not clinical enough in front of the goal with their striker, Nicholas Jackson squandering a hat-trick of clear cut opportunities for Chelsea to take the lead in the tie against a fatigued Manchester City.
After the game concluded, Thiago Silva was seen on camera shedding tears for this loss at Wembley with the 39-year-old set to hold talks with the club over his contract and whether or not he will extend with the likely possibility being that this was his last chance at a trophy in his final year at the club.
Chelsea now put their efforts towards the Premier League where they can still fight for a spot in the Europa League against Tottenham, Manchester United and West Ham.
Manchester City turn their efforts onto the Premier League title race, with the FA Cup final not taking place until the 25th of May 2024.
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